January 5, 2009

Dear Friends:     

Last week there were several people who wrote to me as a result of my email update on Israel. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email me. There seems to be an abundance of information on the Gaza situation. I hesitate to call it a war in the classic sense, because the conflict has been ongoing for so many years. It has certainly escalated.

We have taken people to Israel and the middle-East nearly every year since 1979, and many of those trips have been in the midst of conflict or “real” wars in Lebanon, Gaza, Egypt, Jordan, and in the last eight years, Iraq.  Resolutions are hard to come by.

The Grand Rapids Press (Michigan) listed ten fights between the Palestinians in Gaza and Israel since the war of 1967 when Israel captured Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai. Israel gave the Sinai back and tried to give Gaza to Egypt, who would not take it. I remember in 1993 that more than 2,100 people were killed in Gaza as a result of the fighting. When Israel gave Gaza to the Palestinians it was an act of peace which has not worked.

The United States lists its three worst terrorist countries/organizations as Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas.  It would be good if other Arab countries opened their doors to the Palestinians, but the governments of Egypt and other countries do not want them and they absolutely do not want Hamas or Hezbollah because they  have a history of trying to overthrow the host governments.

What does this mean to Blossoming Rose and our work at Biblical Tamar in Israel? Presently we have two tour groups in Israel who have not been directly affected because the conflict is limited geographically to the Gaza strip. We do not visit sites near any place where there might be violence. So far, our experiences in touring have been without incidences because our drivers do not get close to borders where there might be unrest.

We have several tour groups going to Israel in February and March and a college group in May. We do not expect to have any problems as long as the fighting remains in the same location as it is now.

We continue to sign up students for the “Archaeology Class” February 22-March 5, 2009, at Tamar. The class tuition is $1500 including room and board.  We are also receiving registrations, even at this late date for the February 16-27, tour of Israel.  The price of that tour is $2895 from Chicago. There is still time to sign up for both experiences!

I want to thank all of you who made a year-end donation to Blossoming Rose and Tamar by mail or through the donation system on our website: www.blossomingrose.org. You can use your credit card on-line to bless Israel.  Gifts are needed and appreciated.

Cordially,

DeWayne Coxon, President